Help me with "is" in the tree diagram

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Untaught88

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Hi,

Please help me with "is". Should it be under "Aux" or "VP?

Aux ----- HV ------ is OR be?
VP ------- HV ------ is OR be?

is.jpg
 

Untaught88

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Do you mean that I should write only "present" under "auxiliary?
 

Untaught88

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Can I just mention the tense under auxiliary?
 

Tdol

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This is not the same as is being. It's the main verb.
 

Hunia

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IS is not Aux here but a full verb and should be placed under V within the VP. You should not have Aux in this sentence diagram at all. Hope that helps.
 

Hunia

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I want to add the following: Verb forms like "is" or "have" can either function as grammatical words in English - IS, for example, is used in present progressive forms like " He is eating right now". "Have" has a grammatical function in sentences like "I have managed to get it done". There is no lexical meaning for IS or HAVE in this case. I would call them lexically empty. This is usually the case with respect to Aux.

IS or HAVE can show full lexical meaning in sentences such as these:
(1) John is a student (here IS means something like "equals" or "is equal to", IDENTITY).
(2) John has a car (meaning "John is the owner of a car", POSSESSION).

To get it right in a tree diagram, you need to determine first whether the word in question has full lexical or empty lexical meaning. I know Nepali a bit, and a verb like HO (the same as HAE in Hindi or Urdu) can actually have both occurrences as IS in English. Hope that helps.
 
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